October 18th, 2021 at 1:20 AM ^
You cited record and a head-to-head result, that's it. Ranking teams on that basis quickly winds up in a mess of contradictions. It's why it also has Ohio State well ahead of Oregon, for example. The ratings are more important than the rankings here, and it's intended to be predictive, not backward-looking.
That said, yes, I'd personally pick Michigan to beat Wisconsin (again) on a neutral field.
October 17th, 2021 at 6:55 PM ^
The thing I find sad and frustrating about this metric is the lone team rated above UM on special teams.
October 17th, 2021 at 10:06 PM ^
That top 4 is deja vu all over again.
October 17th, 2021 at 3:11 PM ^
Beat NW and Sparty, and we'll be in the top 4
October 17th, 2021 at 3:42 PM ^
Beat Northwestern. No other games are next in line.
October 17th, 2021 at 4:52 PM ^
Absolutely.
"There is no game more important than the one you are about to play".......... Schembechler
October 17th, 2021 at 4:55 PM ^
I don’t think so. Unless someone in front of us loses, I don’t think we are leap-frogging any team in front of us with a win over NW and MSU.
OSU will have wins over IU and PSU, so we won’t pass them. Alabama just has Tennessee and then a bye week. I doubt a win over MSU would have voters putting us ahead of Alabama. Those are the only teams with a loss who are ranked ahead of us.
Our only shot at finishing in the top four is to go undefeated and we probably won’t crack the top four until we beat osu.
October 17th, 2021 at 5:05 PM ^
If we beat MSU and PSU and OSU loses to one of MSU and PSU, would we not be #4?
October 17th, 2021 at 9:20 PM ^
Most likely we would face Iowa in the B1G championship game and beat them! I would hope a 13-0 Michigan team would make the playoffs, unless they place Cincinnati, Alabama, Oklahoma and Georgia ahead of us!
October 18th, 2021 at 8:54 AM ^
Michigan's only shot at making the playoffs is not by going undefeated. That is just ridiculous. Now if you were saying their only guaranteed shot at making the playoffs is if they go undefeated, now I would agree with that. I think if our only loss is to PSU or MSU, then we will probably have a great chance to make the playoff. I still think MSU is going to get to two losses, and PSU is going to loss to OSU, so if we go into The Game with only one loss and then win, we would be the B1G East champs. Go Blue! Beat Northwestern!
October 18th, 2021 at 11:35 AM ^
Right best case / most likely path to playoff is 11-1 with a win over OSU. If we beat MSU and OSU beats PSU, we don't even have to beat PSU. Just take care of business against IU and Maryland and The Game is for the division.
October 17th, 2021 at 3:13 PM ^
On what planet is Clemson a 4th ranked team this season? They are a shell of their former self this year.
October 17th, 2021 at 3:18 PM ^
If you're referring to SP+ rankings I think it's based on an elite defense, giving Georgia their closest game by far, and possibly some preseason variables still baked in. Also there are three great teams and no clear #4, at least based on down-to-down performance this far. Cincinnati has a weaker schedule, Oklahoma just had their first win by more than 7 over an FBS team, and Michigan/MSU haven't been overly impressive in some of their wins against mediocre schedules
October 17th, 2021 at 6:02 PM ^
Solid summary. No clear #4 and everybody after appears to be overrated. Quite an odd situation. I don't think I have ever seen a more questionable #4 through #10. Michigan actually looks pretty good by fancy stats but even fancy stats can't correct entirely for a weak schedule and yet the Michigan SOS is pretty good but maybe only because somebody has to be #30-#10.
October 17th, 2021 at 7:17 PM ^
MSU and Michigan are just doing what they need to. It's hard to see either of them in that top category.
October 17th, 2021 at 3:38 PM ^
Disrespekt
October 17th, 2021 at 3:45 PM ^
Things are setting up nicely for a blockbuster game in East Lansing.
Tickets are selling like it too. Considered going but the price is too high for my taste.
October 17th, 2021 at 4:06 PM ^
Would you say they are selling like…hot cakes?
October 17th, 2021 at 5:36 PM ^
Very expensive hot cakes. The cheapest pair of tickets available on stubhub at the moment are $357 each including fees.
October 18th, 2021 at 10:17 AM ^
Do hot cakes really sell fast?
October 17th, 2021 at 5:42 PM ^
Those ranking have us #18 in offense. #9 in defense, and #2 in special teams.
I’ll take it.
October 17th, 2021 at 7:18 PM ^
That feels about right.
October 17th, 2021 at 9:03 PM ^
C'mon you all know this ranking is a hype train so that UM vs staee will be bigger on TV, something like -
#5 Michigan vs #7 staee for the Bunyan trophy makes for ultimate Vegas & Fox football hype.
I luv our team but we're not the #6 best team in the country right now.
IF we beat staee, stay undefeated until osu, then we're #4 or #5 for sure.
I mean, the Roadrunners are 7-0 and only #24. No respekt.
Go Blue.
PS - knowing us, we'll lose to Northwestern and then, miraculously win out.
October 17th, 2021 at 10:08 PM ^
PS - knowing us, we'll lose to Northwestern and then, miraculously win out.
Gun to head, if you made me take this as a finish to the season I would say YES without hesitation. Because it means we are B1G east champion and will get to the B1G championship game with a shot at the playoff with a win.
October 20th, 2021 at 12:05 PM ^
If UM isn't 6 than who is? Have you taken a look at the rest of the country, there is not one team behind them you can say is definitively better.
October 17th, 2021 at 9:25 PM ^
No matter what else happens, if Michigan can beat OSU, it will be a very successful season, even more so having our only loss to OSU.
October 18th, 2021 at 1:21 AM ^
Nope. Don't want to swallow that bitter pill. No amount of sugar makes that taste good.
October 18th, 2021 at 1:09 AM ^
Sounds about right to me. Beat Northwestern!
October 18th, 2021 at 7:51 AM ^
These rankings don’t matter. CFP rankings do, more importantly winning the next game is all that matters. Here is how I check things most years. Do I believe Michigan can beat Georgia, Alabama, or Ohio State head to head. I don’t yet. I love this years team but still need to see more. I don’t think Michigan state is that good. I believe Michigan is the better team but in that game it does not mean much as we have seen. Cade needs to connect on the deep balls where players are wide open. Harbaugh needs to stay aggressive I believe he will. When we play Ohio state we will not win if Moody kicks 4 field goals. I believe this team can change my feelings over the course of the rest of the season but it starts with northwestern who I believe we should beat soundly. Go Blue!
October 18th, 2021 at 11:07 AM ^
Iowa dropped as far as they did because they looked so bad this past weekend. Had it been a close loss I don’t believe they would have fallen out of the top ten. This is a really interesting year. I get the feeling a new team will get into the playoffs with all the chaos that keeps happening.
October 18th, 2021 at 11:21 AM ^
If I rank them by who would win on a neutral field, I would not have Michigan, Penn State, MSU and Iowa in the top 10. Also, with the remaining schedule each of these teams will lose 1-2, then OSU beats Iowa in BIG.
1 Alabama
2 Georgia
3 Oregon
4 Ohio State
5 Ole Miss
6 Auburn
7 Oklahoma
8 Cincinnati
9 Notre Dame
10 Oklahoma State
October 20th, 2021 at 12:06 PM ^
Lol, Ole Miss, Auburn and ND are all better? Your list is absurd.
October 18th, 2021 at 1:31 PM ^
Seems a bit high right now, but hey - win out and we're playin with the big boys. Lets GO!
October 18th, 2021 at 5:34 PM ^
We are not going to beat Ohio State. We've got a shot at everyone else. Also, I don't think MSU is very good at all. Lastly, I've changed my mentality from "Cade's doing well so no change" to "start JJ so we can make a run at this thing."